We're off to the tea fields of China. Help us pick the best spring teas and tea wares...

Dear Steepster Friends,

It is hard to believe that we were just in China a few months ago for the autumn harvests. I am excited to announce that largely due to support from the Steepster community we have the chance to head back and take part in the spring harvests to bring back some exciting new offerings and start a few incredible projects. I hope you’ll follow along, offer and advice and input, and leave questions so that I can make the most of our three week adventure.

See how you can connect with us in China: http://verdanttea.com/china-sourcing-trip/

We’ll be in Xiamen partnering with Wang Huimin to start a tea tasting bar, highlighting the same teas we share here right in the middle one of the capitol cities of Chinese tea culture. Lots of brainstorming with her, and trips to her friends and family’s farms in Anxi and Wuyi. (New oolongs anyone?)

Next we go to Dragonwell Village to help Mrs Li with her spring harvest and convince her to part with some of the fresh leaves for us to share again this spring.

Finally we head to Laoshan to commission a brand new kind of tea with the He Family: Laoshan Oolong. We will be doing a short documentary on the process, and bringing it back to share with everyone.

Check out our full plan here: http://verdanttea.com/spring-tea-2013-sourcing-trip-our-goals/

Throughout the trip, we will be sourcing hand made teawares and limited spring harvests. We hope you will follow along! Pre-orders will be possible starting as early as next week on our site, and pictures will be shared across Facebook, Tumblr, and Pinterest.

If you have any special requests or ideas for teas we can seek out, or special tea wares you want to be sure we look for, let us know here. We look forward to sharing our stories in the coming days.

Best Wishes,
David Duckler
Founder, Verdant Tea

45 Replies
Azzrian said

Bring on the OOOOOOOoooolong! :)

It’s finally here!!
http://verdanttea.com/teas/laoshan-green-oolong/
http://verdanttea.com/teas/laoshan-roasted-oolong/

I am so excited and honored to be sharing the He’s amazing new tea. What will they come up with next?! Whatever is it, you can be sure we’ll be sharing it!

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Anyanka said

Tea pets!

Yes yes! Seconded! Especially pixiu, if it’s possible :)

Thirded!

Azzrian said

Fourth’d

heyyy, i wanna be fourth! its my favorite number. :p

You’ve got it! I will definitely be keeping my eyes out for tea pets. They do make great sipping companions, and the hand made ones grow darker and more lustrous over time just like a good yixing pot. @KiwiDelight, I think there will be a great variety of pixiu to look at. It tends to be a favorite among many tea drinkers in China.

We are off tomorrow morning, but already have appointments with craftsmen and craftswomen in Xiamen so I should be posting teawares pictures in the next week.

darky said

might be a stupid question but what on earth are tea pets?

Anyanka said

http://steepster.com/discuss/4885-tea-pets here’s an earlier discussion on them.

Also, thanks David. I just placed my first verdant order and I’m looking forward to trying your teas.

Azzrian said

Okay Shelley_Lorraine Ill trade ya – your forth – Im fifth :)

Oh fantastic, I feel much better now. ;)

I want some amazing laughing buddha tea pet. that’d make me :)

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Dinosara said

If you find any teaware with birds on it (not a phoenix), especially if it is a real bird and not just a generic one, I want it. I am particularly in the market for a gaiwan, but I would be down with cups or a small teapot as well.

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Will we have to wait for you to get back before we get any new teas, or will you work on that from China?

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Meeka select said

Something to replace the private reserve samples in the rewards catalog :P

Kittenna said

Seconded!

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This might be a bit late, but I would love a piece of tea ware with a tiger on it. It is so hard to fine nice tea ware that has a cool drawing of a tiger on it. A Gawain would be cool, though a tea pot or cups are also good.

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Dinosara said

FYI for anyone looking for teawares you should follow Verdant Tea on Facebook… They posted the first batch of teawares for preorder last night at 11:30pm eastern (WHY did I not check Facebook before I went to bed) and its all mostly sold out. There will be more posted, so if you are on the lookout it’s best to watch there.

Geoffrey said

Thanks for sharing, Dinosara! Just wanted to put in a quick word that there will definitely be more teawares coming, and I will make sure to post to this thread again when they’re available, along with the other places we’re posting notification (Facebook, Google+, Twitter and our newsletter).

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Geoffrey said

Also, David just sent over this beautiful album of photos from a tea farm in Anxi, where they grow and produce Tieguanyin. Check it out here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.645332335483708.1073741850.120756301274650&type=1&l=12f95fe9d2

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Geoffrey said

Our first 2013 spring harvest teas were just put up on our site yesterday. Mrs. Li’s Spring Shi Feng Dragonwell and Hand Picked Early Spring Tieguanyin from Master Zhang now available for pre-order. More to follow soon!

http://verdanttea.com/shop/spring/

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Geoffrey said

Another update… We are happy to be releasing the 2013 Spring Harvest Laoshan Green and Spring Jingshan Green today at 3:00pm central time, along with a whole bunch of new tea wares!

Really excited to be able to share Jingshan once more, and especially excited to share the He’s newest harvest with everyone. Both will be in-stock and shipping as of this afternoon. We’ve got tons of pictures + video detailing their step-by-step processes that we’ll be sharing over the next week, too!

http://verdanttea.com/shop/spring/

and a peek at the tea wares going up for sale at 3pm CST:

http://verdanttea.tumblr.com/post/49522876508/new-teaware-first-look

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